Ironing machine



Oct 15, 1929.

momma MACHINE Filed Aug. 13, 19:27 s Sheets-Sheet 1 c. o. REEPS I1,731,793

Oct. 15, 1929. c. o. REEPS IRONING MACHINE Filed Aug. 13, 1927 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 15, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECHARLES O. KEEPS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO NATIONAL LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, INC., F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE mourns MACHINE Application filed August 13,1927. Serial No. 212,651.

The present invention pertains to pressing machines, and moreparticularly to an improved ironing machine of the type wherein apressing head is moved into and out of cooperation with a stationarybuck.

I have found from experiencethat in the ordinary type of ironing machinewherein a pressing head is moved on a stationary ironing buck that thepressure exerted by the pressing head is not uniformly applied to theentire surface of the stationary buckv As a result of this condition,the'articles being ironed are irregularly pressed and do not come out ofthe machine in as good a pressed condition as is desired. I haveremedied this difliculty by provldlng a pressing head having a convexpressing surface and adapted to be rocked upon the ironing .surface ofthe stationary buck to progressively press an article being ironed;

Moreover, I have observed that the pres sure of the ironing head isdistributed over substantially the entire ironing surface ofthe buck.This means that an iven ortion of the article being ironed does notreceive the full pressure of the head, I propose to provide an ironinghead of such a shape that it only'has a line contact withthe article onthe buck, whereby if it is progressively applied to the entire surfaceof the article, it will exert a much greater ironing pressure thereon.

' Now "it is customary to iron articles of clothing, or the like, whilethese articles are still'in a moist or damp condition. I find, as aresult of this, that even after the article has been ironed or pressed,it, is, in addition to being in a heated condition, still in a somewhatdamp or moist condition and, hence, it is necessary to hang the articlein a place where it will be cooled and dried by-the natural circulationof air. I propose to eliminate this unilesirable phase of ironing byproviding the ironing machine with means for drying and cooling thearticle on the buck substantially contemporaneous with the ironingoperation. 7

. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved ironingmachine capable of exerting a'greater ironing pressure on the articlebeing ironed and adapted to moreunr formly press the articleof'clothing, or the like, placed therein.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedironing machine, in eluding a stationary buck and a movable ironing headcooperable therewith, wherein an oscillatory movement is imparted to theironing head so as to cause it to rock on top of the buck, thus insuringthat the article on the buck will be progressively and completelypressed.

Still anothenobject of the invention is to provide a pressing member ofsuch a shape as to cause it to have only a line contact with the articleon the buck.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ironing machinewherein air is circulated through the buck for the purpose of machine,including a stationary heated buck,

a movable heated pressing head, and means for rocking the head on top ofthe buck including an oscillatory arm connected to the head.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of astationary ironing buck having imbedded in its underside a plurality ofheating elements and having mounted upon its underside an air chest fromwhich air is either forced or sucked through the surface of the buck toaugment the drying of the articles being ironed thereon. Heated air is'initially forced through the buck to dry the article. Thereafter, as thehead is moved out of'cooperation with the buck, atmospheric air issucked into the buck to augment the cooling of the ironed article.

' Other objects and advantages of the present invention will more fullyappear from the fol lowing detailed description taken in connection withthe accompanylng drawings, which illustrate an embodiment thereof and inwhich:

Figure 1 is a front view of the ironing machine;

Figure 2 is a side view of the ironing machine;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the ironing head drawnto an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional "iew taken on substantially the lineIVIV of Figure 2 looking downwardly;

Figure 5 is a detail view illustrating the driving mechanism associatedwith the eccentric for oscillating the pressing head;

' Figure 6 is a plan view of the ironing buck;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on substantially the line VII'VII ofFigure 6 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view taken on substantially the line VI IIVIIIof Figure 7 looking upwardly and showing the underside of the ironingbuck with the air chest removed, and

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on substantially the line IXIX ofFigure 8.

In the drawings:

Like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the severalviews.

The frame of the machine is designated generally by the referencecharacter 10 and comprises a pair of spaced legs 11-12 connected attheir upper ends to a horizontal platform or board 13, which is designedto receive the ironed articles of clothing. The leg 12 has formedintegral with its upper end a pair of upwardly extending support members14-14, each of which is provided with a curved elongated slot 15.

Mounted on top of the platform 13 is a pedestal 16 which supports astationary ironing buck designated generally by thereference character17. Disposed over and cooperable with the buck 17 is an ironing orpressing head 18 which extends substantially the length of the buck.This head, as best shown in Figure 3, comprises a hollow casting 19having a convexly shaped underside 2O adapted to be rocked on the topsurface of the ironing-buck. This head is adapted to only have alinecont-act with the top surface of the buck. Connected tothe head 18between its ends are steam inlet and exhaust pipes 21 i and 22 disposedincommunication with the interior of the head 18. Steam may be forcedinto the inlet pipe 21 from anysuitable steam generator for the purposeof heating the,

pressin head, as is .well known in the art. Forme integral with thetopside of the easing 19 are a plurality of laterally extending I lugs23 secured to a pair of spaced bars 24 *extending' toward the curvedslots 15 in the twofiarms 14. The two bars 24, as shown in Figure 4, areconnected by a rod .25 hav-" rod 25 are secured to a rod 27 whichextends through all of them, as shown in Figure 4.

Secured to an intermediate portion of the rod 25 is a laterallyextending arm 28 pivotally connected to the upper end of a link 29, thelower-end of which is pivotally connected at 31 to a circular member ordisk 30. The pivotal connection 31 is eccentrically disposed relative tothe disk 30 so as to enable the rotation of the disk to impart anoscillatory movement to the link 29.

The pivotal connection 31 comprises a pin 32, extending through anopening in the lower end of the link 29, formed integral with a dovetailguide block or tongue 33 mounted in a dovetail groove 34 in the face ofthe disk member 30. The lower end of the link 29 is held in place on thepin 32 by means of a nut 35 threaded on the pin 32 (Figure 5). The diskmember 30 is secured to a horizontal shaft 36 journalled in a pair ofbrackets 37' and 38 secured to a platform 39' disposed below the board13. Secured to an intermediate portion of the shaft 36 is a worm wheel40 meshing with a worm 41 secured to the shaft 42 of an electric motor43 carried by a pedestal 44 secured to the platform 39. The motor shaft42 is shown in Figure 2 as being supported by a bracket 45 secured tothe platform 39.

' Disposed above the motor 43 is a support 51 secured to the undersideof platform 13 by brackets 52. Mounted upon this support 51 is aconventional reversible motor 46 (Figure 2) including a motor shaft 47for operating an air'circulating device 48 which is also mounted uponthe support. The device 48 is of the reversible type and is adapted tobe used either as a blower or as a suction device depending upon thedirection in which the motor shaft 47 is rotating, as is well-known inthe blower art. This device includes a curved pipe extending upwardly,as shown includes a ush button 50 adapted to be engaged byt e lower edgeof extension 51 secured to one ofthestgiared portions 26, as shown in Fiures 2 an 4.

The switc 50 is of the type wherein the depressed, whereby the motorwill be reversed in its operation, thus causing the device 48 tofunction as a suction device, whereb atmospheric air will be sucked intothe uck, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The motor 43 is controlled by a pair of spaced switches 606O mounted onplatform 13 adjacent arms 1414. Both of these switches are disposed inthe motor circuit and must be both closed before the motor can beactuated. Each of these switches includes a spring urged operating lever61 which is at all times urged toward a closed position. Now it will beunderstood that when the operator desires to set the motor 43 intooperation, he will have to use both hands in order to operate the levers61 of the two switches 60--60. In fact, he must keep his hands on thesetwo switches during the entire time that the pressing head is inoperation. In other words, if he takes either or both hands off of theswitches, it will result in the motor circuit being broken and theoperation of the pressing head will be discontinued. This isadvantageous since it prevents the operator from inserting his handsbetween the head and the buck during the operation of the head.

The pipe 53 is connected to a pipeline 55 which extends up through thepedestal 16 and is connectedat its upper end to a bowllike member 56(Figure 7) secured to an air chest 57 connected to the underside of theironing buck 17. The air chest-57 comprises a boxlike hollowconstruction including a flat bottom 58 and upwardly extending sides 59.The buck 17 comprises a casting 60 shaped like the conventional ironingboard and having its underside provided with a recessed portion 61 intowhich extends the upper edges of the sides 59 of the air chest 57. Itwill be noted that the casting 60 has formed integral with it adownwardly extending peripheral flange 62 which embraces the sides 59 ofthe air chest. This flange 62 has a cut away portion 63 forming ashoulder 64 adapted to be engaged by the top of the sides 59 of thechest. One end of the casting 60 is provided with an arcuate opening 65which may be used in connection with the ironing of collars or the like,as is well known in the ironing art. Extending over the top of thecasting 60 and secured thereto is a covering 66 which may be of anysuitable material such, for example, as cloth. Disposed in therecess 61in the buck 17 and imbedded in the underside of the buck are a pluralityof spaced parallel steam pipes 67. Each of these pipes has one endformed closed, as shown in Figure 7, and has its other end threaded intoa steamchest 68 disposed in the air chest 57 directly over he inlet pipe55 connected, to the blower. e steam chest 68 comprises a metallicboxlike. structure including an inlet steam compartment 69 and an outletsteam compartment 70. It

will be apparent that the pipes 71 which are connected to a given T aredisposed in alignment. Each of the end Ts 72 has connected to it onlyone pipeline 71. The other horizontal opening of each of these Ts 72 isplugged by means of a closure or nipple 7 3. Also each T 72 hasconnected to it a vertical pipe 74 which is threaded at its'lower endinto a partition 75 in the chest 68 which separates'the compartments 69and from each other. The lower compartment 69 has connected. to it asteam inlet pipe 76 and the upper compartment 70 has connected to it asteam exhaust. pipe 77.

The casting 60 comprising the ironing buck 17 has in it a plurality ofspaced vertical openings 80 which establish a communica tion between theair chest 57 and the covering 66, whereby air can be forced through thetop of the buck and through the articles being ironed.

The operation of the ironing machine described above in detail will nowbe briefly described. Upon the starting of the motor 43, a rotary motionwill be imparted to disk member 30, which in turning reciprocates thelink 29. The oscillatory movement of the link 29 results in the movementof the pressing head 18 upon the top of the buck 17. The head 18 isguided in its movement by the arcuate slots 15.. Durging this movementof the head 18,

it is rocked upon the top of the buck 17 The horizontal position of thehead is illustrated in full lines in Figure 2. Also in Figure 2 I haveillustrated the two opposite positions to which the head may berocked'as well as the position which the head is moved into when it ismoved out of cooperation with the buck 17. Of course, it will beunderstood that in one complete revolution of the disk member the headis rocked during its movement by the link 29. It willbe evident that thehead 18 never has more than: a line contact with ironing pressure isapplied to the buc pipe 77.

1 It will be apparent that after the operator the article and as aresult a much reater has placed the article on the buck preparatoryto'the ironing operation; the motor 46 v is set into operation. If it isdesired, this motor can remain in operation constantly while the ironingmachine is in use. Normally this motor will function to actuate thedevice 48 in such a way as to cause it to blow air through the buck 17.That is to say, the

7, motor 46 normally turns the shaft 47 in such a direction as to causethe'device 48 to function as a blower. During the operation of thedevice 48 as a blower, the switch button 50' of the switch 50- will bein its outermost position. Now the air forced into the buck by thedevice 48 is pre-heated by the steam pipes in the buck and thereafteremerges from the buck through the perforations 80. This heated: airserves to augment the drying of the article on the buck and also servesto force the article of clothing away from the per-- forations, wherebyit can be given a much smoother press.

When the ironing head has finished the ironing operation and reaches theuppermost dotted position shown in Figure 2, the extension 51 connectedto'rod 25 forces the switch button 50' downwardly, thus breaking thecircuit of the motor 46 and reversing the operation of the motor in amanner well I 5 known in the motor art. Thereafter the device 48 willfunction as a suction medium to suck air down through the perforations80 I a into the buck 17 Inasmuch as the air drawn into the buck is atatmospheric temperature, the article ofclothing on the buck will becooled by the incoming air. This air circulating feature is highlyadvantageous, since it eliminates the necessity of drying and coolingthe ironed articles subsequent to the ironing operation.

Now I desire it understood that althoughI have illustrated and describedin detail the preferred embodiment ofmy invention, the

invention is not to be thus limited, but only in so far as defined bythe scope and spirit of f the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, in an ironing machine, a stationary ironing buck, amovable ironing head cooperable with said buck, a plurality of heatingelements disposed in said buck for heating the same, saidf buck having aplurality of spaced openings disposed between said heating elements, andmeans for circulating air through said openings to augment the drying ofthe article being ironed.

2. In combination, in an ironing machine,

an ironing buck, an ironing head cooperable with said buck, a steamchest disposed transversely of said buck between its ends, said steamchest comprising an exhaust chamber and a live steam chamber, aplurality of steam pipes connected to each side of said chest extendinglongitudinally of the buck and disposed in communication with saidexhaust chamber, a plurality of live steam pipes disposed inside of saidother pipes, and means connecting said live steam pipes to said livesteam chamber.

3. In combination, in an ironing machine, an ironing buck, an ironinghead cooperable with said buck, a steam chest disposed transversely ofsaid buck between its ends, said steam chest comprising an exhaustchamber and a live steam chamber, a plurality of steam pipes connectedto each side of said chest extending longitudinally of the buck anddisposed in communication with said exhaust chamber, a plurality of livesteam pipes disposed inside of said other pip'es, means connecting saidlive steam pipes to said live stearn chamber, and means including an airchest disposed on the underside of said buck and covering said pipes forcausing air to be circulated through said buck to augment the drying ofthe article being ironed.

4. In combination, in an ironing machine, an ironing buck, an ironinghead cooperable with said buck, a steam chest disposed transverselyofsaid buck between its ends, said steam chest comprising an exhaustchamber and a live steam chamber, a plurality of steam pipes connectedto each side of said chest extending longitudinally of the buck anddisposed in communication with said exhaust chamber, a plurality of livesteam pipes disposed inside of said other pipes, means connecting saidlive steam pipes to said live steam chamber, said buck having aplurality of spaced openings positioned between said first mentionedpipes, an airchest connected to the underside of said buck and coveringsaid pipes, and means for causing air to be circulated through saidchest and through said openings for augmenting the drying of the articlebeing ironed.

5. In combination, in an ironing machine, a pair of cooperable ironingmembers, means or moving one of said members relative to augment thedrying of an article being ironed and adapted to thereafter suck airinto one of said members to cool the article ironed,

the other, an air circulating device adapted to blow air through one ofsaid members to and means controlled by said first mentioned means forcontrolling the operation of said air circulating device.

6. In combination, in an ironingmachine, a pair of cooperable ironingmembers, means 3 for moving one of said. members relative to the other,an air circulating device adapted to blow air through one of saidmembers to augment the drying of an article being ironed m and adaptedto thereafter suck air into one of said members to cool the articleironed, and means controlled by said first mentioned means forcontrolling the operation of said air circulating device, said lastmentioned means including a motor of. the reversible type and switchmeans for reversing the operation of the motor.-

7. In combinatiomin an ironing machine, a stationary ironing buck, amovable ironing head cooperable with said buck, means for actuating saidmovable ironing head, I means for circulating air through said buck toaugment the drying and cooling of an article being ironed, and meanscontrolled by 2 said first mentioned means for causing said aircirculating means toinitially blow-air through the buck to'augment thedrying of the article and to subsequently cause said meanstosuck'atmospheric air into the buck 3a to augment the coolingofthearticle;

8. In combination, in an ironing machine, a stationary ironing buckadapted to be heated, a movable ironing head cooperable with said buck,means for moving said-ironing head, said. buck being provided with aplurality of perforations, a blowerfor forcing air through said heatedbuck and through the perforations therein into the article on the bucktoyaugment the drying of the same, rm means for operatin said blower,and means controlled by said" rst mentioned means for changing thedirection of movement of said 0 crating means for the blower, wherebysaid b ower will be caused to-act as a suctiondevice .to suckatmospheric airintothe buck to cool the article that has been ironed.

y 9. In combination, in an ironing machine, a stationary ironing buckadapted to be heated, a movable ironing head cooperable with said buck,means for-moving said ironing head, said buck being provided' with aphi-- rality of perforations, a blower for forcing air through saidheated buck and through the r perforations therein into the articleonthe buck to augment the drying of the :same, means for operating saidblower, and means trollin the operation of the motor operable by saifirst mentioned means.

10. The process of ironing an article, which consists inapplyin heat andpressure to the article simultaneously, blowing heated air through thearticle to augment the drying of the same, and subsequently suckingatmospheric air through the article to augment the cooling of the same.-

1 1. The process of ironing an article, which consists in progressivelyapplying heat and pressure to the article to uni ormly press the same,blowing heated air through the article to dry the same, and subsequentlysucking air into the article to cool the same.

k 12. The process of ironing an article, which consists in progressivelyapplying heat and pressure to the article to uniformly press the augmentthe drying of the article.

13. The process of ironing an article, which consists in forcing heatedair against the article to augment the drying of the same, applying heatand pressure to the article, and forcing heated air from the article toaugment the cooling of the same.

14. The process of ironing an article, which consists in forcing airagainst the article to dry the same, progressively applying heat andpressure to the article to uniformly iron the same, and sucking air fromthe article to augment the cooling of the same.

same, and forcing air through the article to In testimony whereof I havehereunto subscribed my name at Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

CHARLES o. KEEPS.

controlled by said first mentioned means'for 65 of the reversible type aswitch for conchanging the direction of movement of said

